A Fourth Wave of Education for Sustainability (EfS) in Higher Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 1167-1186
Author(s):  
Mike Brown
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Collaborative Project ◽  
Local Sustainability ◽  
Sustainable Universities ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
Fourth Wave

Education for Sustainability (EfS) in Higher Education (HE) is described as developing through three waves. These are overviewed in this chapter and given due acknowledgement but are shown to fall short of what is needed going forward. Consequently, a fourth wave of EfS in HE is proposed. The fourth wave of EfS in HE needs to be directed at the collaborative project of constructing “sustainable universities” (Sterling, Maxey, & Luna, 2013). The concept of “neo-sustainability” (Farley & Smith, 2014) is adopted as the basis of this next wave, as is the three nested rings model of sustainability. The argument for a strategy to educate the HE educators is outlined. It is suggested that contemporary global and local sustainability issues need to become part of student engagement within all HE courses. Finally, effort needs to be exerted by HE lecturers to develop pedagogical practices that align to the aims and principles of EfS.

A Fourth Wave of Education for Sustainability (EfS) in Higher Education

2014 ◽  
pp. 151-169
Author(s):  
Mike Brown
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Collaborative Project ◽  
Local Sustainability ◽  
Sustainable Universities ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
Fourth Wave

Education for Sustainability (EfS) in Higher Education (HE) is described as developing through three waves. These are overviewed in this chapter and given due acknowledgement but are shown to fall short of what is needed going forward. Consequently, a fourth wave of EfS in HE is proposed. The fourth wave of EfS in HE needs to be directed at the collaborative project of constructing “sustainable universities” (Sterling, Maxey, & Luna, 2013). The concept of “neo-sustainability” (Farley & Smith, 2014) is adopted as the basis of this next wave, as is the three nested rings model of sustainability. The argument for a strategy to educate the HE educators is outlined. It is suggested that contemporary global and local sustainability issues need to become part of student engagement within all HE courses. Finally, effort needs to be exerted by HE lecturers to develop pedagogical practices that align to the aims and principles of EfS.

scholarly journals Teaching sustainable development in higher education

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy Howlett ◽  
Jo-Anne Ferreira ◽  
Jessica Blomfield
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Reflective Thinking ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Course Evaluations ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This paper aims to argue that substantive changes are required in both curricula and pedagogical practice in higher education institutions to challenge dominant epistemologies and discourses and to unsettle current ways of thinking about, and acting in relation to, the environment. Central to such a shift, it is argued, is the need for higher education curricula to be interdisciplinary and for pedagogical practices to work to build capacities in students for critical and reflective thinking. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, a case study of our reflections is offered on a subject designed to promote capacities in students for critical and reflective thinking via an interdisciplinary approach. The paper uses data from student reflective essays and student course evaluations to make an argument for the success of this approach. Findings Genuine transformative learning can occur within a constructivist informed pedagogical approach to teaching for sustainability. Research limitations/implications Research implications are that genuine transformation can occur in students’ thinking processes (which the paper argues is critical for effective education in sustainability) with appropriately designed courses in higher education. Practical implications More effective environmental actors and thinkers, who can critically engage with the complexity of environmental problems. Social implications Social implications include a more effective and socially just higher education for sustainability Originality/value The authors know of no other narrative that addresses attempts to educate for sustainability using this approach.

scholarly journals Education for Sustainability in Practice: A Review of Current Strategies within Italian Universities

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (13) ◽  
pp. 5246
Author(s):  
Giulia Sonetti ◽  
Caterina Barioglio ◽  
Daniele Campobenedetto
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Qualitative Description ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Practical Factors ◽  
Sustainable Universities

Universities play a crucial role in the short-term implementation of education for sustainable development goals (SDGs). The fourth SDG aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. Indeed, SDG4 is not intended as a goal in itself, but rather, a tool to achieve different goals and explore the best practices, via deductive-theoretical or inductive-experiential methods. Still, current literature on education for SDGs does not always consider the infrastructural and practical factors affecting the success or the failure of the practices mentioned above. The main purpose of this paper is to organize and describe a set of ongoing education for sustainability strategies that took place from 2016 to 2019 in Italian universities. Eighteen best practices have been collected after a national call by the Italian Network of Sustainable Universities (RUS), that aimed to map the current landscape of SDGs-related actions. Data have been analyzed based on the qualitative description provided by each university, according to four criteria: trigger, course type, approach (top-down/bottom-up) and declared mission. Results are depicted as a map of the current Italian higher education system, where a predominant mission (teaching) and a prevalent driver (top-down) have been found as the frequent features of SDGs educational initiatives. Further developments highlight the value of this first country-wide mapping of the Italian Higher Education Institutions implementing SDGs in their activities, that can avoid the isolation of individual experiences and, most importantly, can suggest some comparability and transferability criteria for similar cases.

Higher Education Student Engagement Scale

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen C. H. Zhoc ◽  
Beverley J. Webster ◽  
Ronnel B. King ◽  
Johnson C. H. Li ◽  
Tony S. H. Chung
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Education Student ◽  
Engagement Scale

Higher education student engagement in times of pandemic: the role of e-learning system usability and teacher behavior

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalid Abed Dahleez ◽  
Ayman A. El-Saleh ◽  
Abrar Mohammed Al Alawi ◽  
Fadi Abdelmuniem Abdelfattah
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Cognitive Engagement ◽  
Teacher Behavior ◽  
Learning System ◽  
Emotional Engagement ◽  
Education Student ◽  
Content Type ◽  
System Usability ◽  
E Learning

PurposeThis research examined the factors affecting several types of student engagement, namely agentic, behavioral, emotional and cognitive engagement. Specifically, it examined the effect of e-learning system usability on student engagement and explored teacher behavior's possible intervening impact on this relationship.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 418 students studying at different specializations at Omani private academic institutions. This study employed a quantitative methodology and utilized the Smart-PLS for data analyses.FindingsThe findings showed that e-learning system usability influenced significantly and positively agentic, behavioral and cognitive engagement. However, the link between e-learning system usability and emotional engagement was not significant. Moreover, teacher behavior mediated the relationship between e-learning system usability and the four types of engagement.Originality/valueThis study improves one’s understanding of how the interaction of e-learning system usability and teacher behavior affects several aspects of student engagement. It also helps higher education administrators and policymakers by exploring the influential effects of e-learning systems usability and teacher behavior on facilitating students' engagement.

Transformation of Teaching Pedagogical Practices in Higher Education in the Situation of Covid-19 (Based on the example of transforming academic practices in the Pedagogical Faculty of the Thracian University)

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-24
Author(s):  
Rumyana Neminska
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Academic Education ◽  
Teaching Models ◽  
Academic Practices ◽  
Learning Management ◽  
Short Time

When COVID-19 pandemic hit Bulgarian education was in the middle of its reform. Health requirements, the long lockdown, have expelled a huge surge of the need not only for a survival but also for the preservation and transformation of education. Education on all levels including higher academic education took quick steps to reorient to online learning. In a short time, university electronic platforms became the daily place for learning. This online reorientation has led to a number of changes in teaching models, online learning management and more. Practically all methodologies and methodologies that the pedagogical students get acquainted with have been rewritten. It is in this direction that the article traces the challenges facing higher education and examines an empirical study of the attitudes of student educators trained in an online environment.

The wheel of fortune as a novel support for constructive alignment and transformative sustainability learning in higher education

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Noy ◽  
Teresa Capetola ◽  
Rebecca Patrick
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Constructive Alignment ◽  
Common Framework ◽  
Changing Times

Purpose Education for Sustainability in Higher Education (ESHE) sits within and across disciplinary settings that share the need for a framework that provides a basis for pedagogy, assessment and learning outcomes (Kalsoom, 2019). ESHE strives to create transformative learning spaces that help students gain the knowledge and skills they need to understand and contribute to shaping a world based on communities living within the limits of earth’s resources. This paper aims to offer a novel solution to the challenge of teaching students from different disciplines struggling with the complexity of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach The paper explores the development of an interdisciplinary subject designed for undergraduate students from four faculties. It presents a case study of pedagogy that moves away from three pillars/concentric circles approaches towards practices based in systems thinking and interactive transformative learning. It describes the iterative process of developing and implementing an infographic: the “Sustainability Wheel of Fortune” (Wheel), to support constructive alignment of content, assessment tasks and learning outcomes. Findings The Wheel provides a holistic, interconnected and dynamic focus for framing content and teaching. The pedagogy aligns with sustainability competencies, builds in flexibility in response to changing times and student experiences and provides teachers and students with a common framework for interrogating the possibilities for sustainable futures. Originality/value The Wheel is a novel learning tool for contemporary sustainability education. It captures key elements of approaches to and concepts about sustainability, visually reinforces the idea of a holistic interconnected approach and provides a framework that supports the constructive pedagogy of an interdisciplinary sustainability subject.

Service Learning: The Peace Corps, American Higher Education, and the Limits of Modernist Ideas of Development and Citizenship

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-505
Author(s):  
David S. Busch
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Citizenship Education ◽  
Peace Corps ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
American Higher Education ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Work Abroad ◽  
The University

In the early 1960s, Peace Corps staff turned to American colleges and universities to prepare young Americans for volunteer service abroad. In doing so, the agency applied the university's modernist conceptions of citizenship education to volunteer training. The training staff and volunteers quickly discovered, however, that prevailing methods of education in the university were ineffective for community-development work abroad. As a result, the agency evolved its own pedagogical practices and helped shape early ideas of service learning in American higher education. The Peace Corps staff and supporters nonetheless maintained the assumptions of development and modernist citizenship, setting limits on the broader visions of education emerging out of international volunteerism in the 1960s. The history of the Peace Corps training in the 1960s and the agency's efforts to rethink training approaches offer a window onto the underlying tensions of citizenship education in the modern university.

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